Author: P Naveen, TNN
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 24, 2026
URL:   https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-plus/environment/how-mp-taught-orphaned-tiger-cubs-to-return-and-rule-in-the-wild/articleshow/132605911.cms

The state has already given over 20 cubs who lost their mothers a second chance, returning them to the jungle, where many now hold territories and raise cubs of their own. More rewilding centres are being planned

An orphaned tiger cub crouches silently in the undergrowth. A chital grazes a few metres away, unaware of the predator inching closer. Hidden behind camouflage screens, forest guards watch every movement through binoculars. No one speaks. No one steps forward. The cub must never know they are there. If the hunt succeeds, it will have learnt another vital lesson.

This is not a zoo or safari, but one of Madhya Pradesh’s hidden “tiger schools”, where orphaned cubs are prepared for survival in the wild without ever knowing that humans kept them alive.

MP has the highest number of tigers in India, accounting for more than 21% of the country’s estimated 3,682 big cats. But it has also recorded a high number of deaths. The state lost 55 tigers in 2025 and around 45 more in 2026 so far. As the tiger population continues to rise, the state is preparing to establish more rewilding centres. A report by experts at Kanha Tiger Reserve warns that more tigers, shrinking habitats and growing human pressure could lead to a large number of orphaned cubs, making additional tiger schools necessary.

Officials say a tigress spends nearly two years teaching her cubs to stalk prey, defend territory, avoid danger and eventually survive on their own. If she dies before that training is complete — in a territorial fight, an accident, human-animal conflict or an attack by another tiger — the cubs have little chance of survival.

Rewilding attempts to give such animals that lost chance. Human influence is kept to a minimum as they learn the skills needed to live independently.

Over the past two decades, such facilities inside Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Satpura tiger reserves have helped rewrite MP’s conservation story. More than 20 orphaned cubs, which might once have spent their lives in zoos, have been returned to the forest. Most have established territories of their own. Several have also reproduced, showing that rescued cubs can become fully wild animals again.

It began as an experiment

Until two decades ago, forest departments had only one option. Orphaned cubs were sent to places like Bhopal’s Van Vihar, where they spent the rest of their lives behind a cage.

“They survived, but they never remained wild,” says Shubhranjan Sen, head of the MP forest department and one of the architects of the state’s rewilding programme.

In 2005, three tiger cubs barely three weeks old were rescued in Kanha tiger reserve after their mother was killed by a male tiger. “The easy option was to send them to a zoo,” Sen says. “Instead, we wanted to find out whether they could be raised in a way that allowed them to survive independently in the wild.”

No one knew whether the experiment would work. Forest managers created a special rewilding facility at Ghorella in Kanha’s Mukki range. Built in 2007-08, it covered 36 hectares and contained a smaller 7-hectare inner enclosure. With tree groves, grasslands, a flowing stream and permanent water sources, the enclosure closely resembled a tiger’s natural habitat. It was protected by 2.5m-high fencing and had four watchtowers and two entry gates. An adjoining 81sq m quarantine facility was later expanded to house tiger cubs.

“The SOPs look good on paper, but success depends entirely on the people implementing them,” says Punit Goyal, who was involved in several rewilding projects at Kanha and is now deputy director of Pench Tiger Reserve, Seoni.

According to Goyal, the first and most important decision is selecting the right site. It must resemble natural tiger habitat, with woodland, grassland, perennial water and thick cover. It must also be accessible for round-the-clock monitoring while remaining completely hidden from public view.

“The cardinal principle is maintaining a critical distance from the tiger. The moment they get comfortable with humans, the chances of successful release start diminishing,” Goyal says.

The cubs never see the people who care for them. They are fed milk, eggs, meshed meat and live small-sized goats. Forest staff monitor them from concealed watchtowers and intervene only when necessary.

As the cubs grow, the lessons become harder. Whole carcasses replace processed food. Live chickens teach the first chase. Goats test strength and confidence. The final examination comes in the form of chital and wild pigs, forcing the cubs to stalk, chase and kill prey exactly as they would in the forest. “It has to be done in a way that the tiger never associates humans with feeding,” Goyal says. “The cub should believe it has hunted the prey on its own.”

Only those judged capable of surviving independently are considered for release.

The first graduates

By 2007, the first graduates of the tiger school were out in the wild, and they soon proved the experiment had worked. Two rewilded tigresses were released into Panna Tiger Reserve after poaching wiped out its tiger population. Both established territories, produced cubs and raised them successfully.

“For us, that became the benchmark,” Sen says. The programme was later expanded to Bandhavgarh and Satpura, creating a network of tiger schools.

Over the past two decades, more than 20 orphaned cubs have graduated from these hidden tiger schools.

Chief wildlife warden Samita Rajora says, “It has been a successful conservation initiative and continues to offer orphaned cubs a way back into the wild. Many of these tigers have also become part of successful reintroduction and active management programmes.”

One of the programme’s most remarkable successes followed the poisoning of a tigress in Pench Tiger Reserve in 2016. Her surviving cub was shifted to Kanha’s rewilding enclosure before being released into Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary (now Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve). “She became the founding tigress there,” Sen says. “Today, there are close to 20 tigers in that landscape, most of them her progeny.”

Danger of contact

One of the earliest setbacks came at Bandhavgarh, where some forest personnel became overly familiar with rescued cubs. They posed for photographs with them and even allowed family members to get close. The cubs gradually lost their natural fear of people and could never be released into the wild.

The episode changed the programme’s approach. Human interaction was reduced to the bare minimum because, as Sen puts it, “Once a cub starts associating humans with food or safety, releasing it back into the wild becomes almost impossible.”

The challenge of rewilding is evident beyond MP as well. During Tamil Nadu’s first attempt to return an orphaned tiger cub to the wild, forest personnel spent two years trying to prevent it from recognising people. They wore dirty uniforms, used animal masks and even smeared themselves with dung. Despite their efforts, the tiger eventually developed human imprinting and could not be released. It was shifted to permanent captivity at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur.

For Goyal, releasing a tiger into the forest is not the end of the journey. “Release is only the beginning. The tiger has to establish territory, avoid dominant tigers, hunt consistently and eventually find a mate,” he says.

Every rewilded tiger is, therefore, monitored after release. Forest teams track its movements, hunting success, territorial establishment and interaction with other tigers. The programme is considered successful only when a rescued cub survives independently, establishes a territory, and contributes to the next generation.